STUDIES ON THE OXIDATION AND REDUCTION OF IMMUNOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES

Abstract

Pneumococcus hemotoxin, an antigenic substance of bacterial origin,is converted by oxidation to a product devoid of hemolytic action. The oxidation product of the hemotoxin may be converted to the original hemolytic substance by reduction, by the anaerobic action of certain bacteria, or by sodium hydrosulfite. The active lysin, or hemotoxin, produced by the reduction of the inactive oxidized extracts is identical with the original, active, reduced hemotoxin; it possesses the same degree of thermolability and is neutralized by the same specific antibody. The inactive products formed by heating the hemotoxin anaerobically cannot be "reactivated" by reducing agents. The immunological significance of these relations will be discussed in a subsequent paper.